Monarch butterflies that travel over 2,500 miles each year and are famous for their vivid orange and patterned wings that fill the sky with beauty are now “closer to the verge” of extinction. The bad news was revealed on Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which claimed that human activity is mostly to blame for habitat degradation and climate change.
A subspecies of the monarch butterfly, the migratory monarch is distinguished by its yearly trip from Mexico to the United States and Canada. Depending on the assessment technique, the population has decreased by between 22 and 72 percent during the last ten years, according to the IUCN.
The majority of this reduction, according to the organisation, is a result of individuals.
Significant portions of the butterflies’ winter habitat in Mexico and California have been devastated by logging and deforestation. According to a study from the World Wildlife Fund and the Mexican government last year, the number of monarch butterflies that were in Mexico for hibernation in 2020 fell by 26% from the year before. They have colonized over seven acres of Mexico’s hibernating woodlands in 2019, and little over five acres in 2020.
The bulk of the migratory monarchs hibernate in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, which had severe tree loss prior to the yearly migration, according to the paper, primarily as a result of “clandestine” logging.
As the chemicals kill both butterflies and milkweed, which is necessary for the development of butterfly larvae, pesticides and herbicides also contribute to the demise of the butterflies. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, root-plowing, border security operations, and development have all contributed to the resource’s depletion and the proposal to add prostrate milkweed to the endangered species list was made in February.
Then, of course, there is climate change that is driven by humans. The West Coast has been experiencing severe droughts, which have hampered milkweed growth. Additionally, it has led to wildfires that are further destroying the vital plants that provide food and shelter for the species. This excessive heat is being experienced by dozens of states, notably California.
Although migratory monarch numbers have decreased from coast to coast, the IUCN reported that the western population has been hit the most. Between the 1980s and 2021, the population is thought to have decreased by 99.9 percent, from 10 million to fewer than 2,000. The group wonders if there are enough butterflies to save their complete extinction in light of these figures.
Leading the evaluation was IUCN member Anna Walker, who stated in a statement that it is difficult to see the species “teeter on the verge of collapse.”
“But there are signs of hope,” she said, noting that organizations are working to restore habitats, plant milkweed and reduce pesticides. “…We all have a role to play in making sure this iconic insect makes a full recovery.”
41,000 species are listed as threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List.
Every single species of sturgeon was also included in the red list on Thursday. According to the IUCN, “all 26 of the world’s remaining sturgeon species are currently threatened with extinction.” The Chinese Paddlefish and the Yangtze Sturgeon are two species that are officially extinct in the wild.
On the other side, since their previous assessment in 2015, tigers had grown by 40%. Although they are still in risk of extinction, the IUCN stated that the trend shows “recovery is conceivable.”